Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (鉄拳タッグトーナメント2,Tekken Taggu Tōnamento?, lit. Iron Fist Tag Tournament 2) is a fighting game in the Tekken series and the successor to 1999's Tekken Tag Tournament. The game was released in Japanese arcades on September 14, 2011, with the console versions being released on September 11, 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A playable demo for the PlayStation 3 was included with the Tekken Hybrid collection, which was released in North America on November 22, 2011, and Europe on November 25, 2011, alongside the CGI movie, Tekken: Blood Vengeance. An update for the arcade version, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Unlimited, was released on March 27, 2012 in Japan.

Contents

Gameplay

As per the original Tekken Tag Tournament, matches involve each player selecting two fighters to fight with. Players are able to switch their fighters out at any time, allowing the inactive character to gradually recover some life they might have lost. At certain points, an inactive character's life bar may flash, giving them a temporary boost in strength if they are tagged in. If the life bar of either of a player's fighters runs out, that player loses the round. If time runs out, the player who has the most cumulative life remaining amongst their fighters wins the round.

The gameplay expands on the tag mechanics featured in the first Tekken Tag, allowing for extended tag combos and combined moves. New techniques include combined tag throws which, if timed properly, can be escaped from. Tag combos (referred to as "Tag Assaults") can now be done simultaneously with both characters participating in the combo at the same time. The game also inherits gameplay features from Tekken 6, such as "Bound" hits (hits that slam an airborne opponent to the ground and stun them so combos can be extended) and walled arenas. Character-customization will also be featured, similar to past Tekken games. Features suggested by Harada include recording in Practice mode as well as a Tutorial to bring new players into the fold more smoothly than has been possible in the past. In a recent podcast, it was revealed by Harada that every playable character from Tekken 6 would be featured as returning characters. The game will feature a "stage gimmick" system. An example of the system shown in Famitsu has the player slamming his/her opponent into a wall, which breaks, and the opponent goes flying, landing in a new area where the fight continues. As the opponent falls, the tag partner is waiting at the bottom to continue the combo.

In Unlimited version, the player can switch a ratio between Tag mode or Solo mode. There is also a Pair Play mode, in which can play maximum 2 of 4 players, like in the previous installment Tekken Tag Tournament. The Solo Mode will uses a term of Tekken 6 styles while the Tag Mode will uses the previous Tekken Tag 2 styles, such the rage, combo and stage systems.

Development

TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT 2 - Switch Trailer

The game was announced on September 18, 2010 at the Tougeki event. On Twitter, producer Katsuhiro Harada has stated that the game engine will be different from the one used in Tekken 6. The release of the arcade version of the game in Japan was originally planned for Summer 2011, but due to complications derived from the Great East Japan Earthquake, the arcade release has tentatively been postponed to Autumn 2011.[9] Release dates for other regions, as well as console versions, have yet to be announced. At the World Cyber Games 2010, Harada hinted that the upcoming console version might feature additional console-exclusive returning characters and bonus gameplay modes. Also on Twitter, Harada suggested that the release of the console version of the game would take place between the releases of Street Fighter X Tekken and Tekken X Street Fighter.

The Tekken Hybrid Bluray Disc containing the Tekken: Blood Vengeance CGI movie, released on 22 November 2011, included a Prologue version of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 if played on a PlayStation 3 console. The contents of the demo mainly revolved around elements from the movie.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Unlimited

Tekken Unlimited logo

On February 16th, 2012, an upgrade was announced at the AOU 2012 under the name of Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Unlimited, or Tekken Unlimited.

The upgrade is to feature not only 2vs2 battles, but also 1vs1 and as an entirely new addition, 1vs2 battles. Additionally, the gameplay will be balanced out for any battle format to be enjoyable as the other ones. Tekken Unlimited went online for Arcade machines on March 27th, 2012.

Wii U Editon Exclusive Features

At Nintendo's E3 2012 conference, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 was officially confirmed for the Nintendo Wii U console. All of the characters in the Wii U Edition are given at least one alternate costume based on a Nintendo character from various series such as Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Star Fox, and all DLC characters for the other versions will be included for free in the Wii U Edition.

Other features include Mushroom Battle, which allows for characters to pick up Super Mushroom items for unique power-ups. Touch panel moves with the Wii U Gamepad, and the beach volley battle mode Tekken Ball. The Wii U version will have the most detailed set of customization options for the game.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue is a demo of the game that was included in Tekken Hybrid. There are four playable characters to choose from based on their appearance in Tekken: Blood Vengeance; they are:

Most of the fighters that have received palette swapped versions of their original primary outfit in Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, regain their recolored outfits from Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection (ex. King II wears Blue/Purple trunks/tights with yellow boots, kneepads and Elbow pads in Tekken 5 and 6 but in TK5:DR, his trunks/tights/boots are recolored in all black). Xiaoyu, however is the ONLY character to keep her TK5:DR palette swapped outfit, so her Player 2 Outfit is pink, like it was in Tekken 5. Note: if any fighter did not receive palette swaps before or gained a new outfit, their Player 2 outfit will be the same as their Player 1 outfit, but in completely new colors (Ex. Jin's Player 2 outfit will be the same as his player 1 but it will be colored the same way as it was in Tekken 5, same with Hwoarang). Paul however, does not sport his TK5:DR colors, and his red judo uniform is recolored in blue, instead of white. Some returning characters have new outfits such as Yoshimitsu, Jun, Zafina, Tiger, Miharu, Miguel, Julia (as Jaycee), Michelle, Angel and Kunimitsu.

The game appears in the twenty first episode of the anime, Accel World.

Ranks 20th through 23th Dan are named on the four sacred beasts: the turtle (Genbu), Tiger (Byakko), Dragon (Seiryu) and Phoenix (Suzaku).

Ranks 24-28 are all named after various Buddhist and Japanese gods. Fujins are Japanese gods of wind, Raijins being that of thunder, Yaksa is a class of nature spirits in Buddhism, Majins literally translate to demon gods and Toshin is in reference to Ogre's role as the "God of Fighting".

Though considered to be non-canon, certain characters' endings in said game seem to be connected and follow the same storyline as Tekken 6. Therefore, the endings may be canon though the game is not.

Currently as of Tekken 7, the only known endings which are canon are Leo's and Steve'. Julia’s story background as Jaycee would soon follow this.

Not counting the original King, Armor King, Kuma, or the numbered Jack models, the only characters from previous games that didn't return were Roger, Gun Jack, Tetsujin and Gon.